July 9 - It's my sister's birthday and we are off to Montana. I haven't spent her birthday with her in oh so many years - in fact, I can't remember the last time. It's time. We have snagged non-stop flights from Dallas to Kalispell and that is amazing in itself. It's a nice day and we are outta here. Hours later, lakes begin to appear and we are getting close.
Independence Day has come and gone and since the weather is semi-decent, we are out early for a trip to the zoo to HOPEFULLY meet Gus.
Upon our arrival, the lemurs are already showing off and we spot the little brown ones that have been noticeably absent for awhile now.
Well, that's it. We are back in St. George, the tears have temporarily stopped and my sweetheart has found a wonderful spot for dinner and a drink - George's, of course.
One of the things I noticed in St. George is that on the side of one bluff, DIXIE is written and I have wondered why. NOW, I get to find out. Utah's Dixie is the nickname for an area in Washington County in southwestern Utah. It's climate is milder than the rest of Utah, with an elevation of 2,700 feet. It was first settled in 1854, as part of Brigham Young's efforts to establish an Indian Mission in the region. The settlers began growing cotton and other temperate cash crops during the 1850's. The largest community in the region, St. George, was founded in 1861, when Brigham Young selected 300 families to settle the area and grow cotton and other crops. The region had become known as Dixie by 1860, in reference to the attempt to grow cotton. Many settlers were bona fide Southerners, who were steeped in the lore of cotton culture. Dixie, it became, and Dixie it remained. The name "DIXIE" is one of the distinctive things about this part of Utah.
Dinner is perfect. Ahhhh. Now, off to the motel and some sleep so I don't think about how close my kids are and I'm missing it.
With an early departure for sleep last night, our condo is awake early and spending some much loved time visiting on the upper back deck once again. Mister and Becca went up first and then I joined them with Jen following shortly after. Well, perhaps we woke her as we were sitting right outside her room, but . . . Before it was over Matt, Jacob, Cassie and Mairead all spent some time with us. I cannot express how much these moments meant to me. It is our last day with everyone and I want to make every minute count, if possible.
After a bit, Zyra joins me and is surprised that we're the only ones awake. We have such a fun talk and when Mister joins us, we decide to get out of the sun (which has come over the top of the house and is blasting me) and checkout the upper level deck at the back of the house. Perfect. Watching the wildlife below makes for some fun and then peeking at the other condo deck shows little movement on the other side still.
The gathering is happening. We are in full swing and loving it all. Mister and I have decided that this will just be "mostly" a picture blog. If a story is warranted I'll add it in - so enjoy. (I'll name each grand at their first appearance.)
Caleb and JP
Months and months of waiting to get to this day. We are on our way to Utah for my family reunion. I cannot express how excited I am to have all of my children and ALL of my grands together for the first time in many, many years.
The trip begins with parking our car in an off-site, new-to-us location. We are fortunate and catch a shuttle right away. As we arrive at the terminal and pull up to stop, I assume we are closer than reality and take a tumble out of the bus. What a great beginning. We made sure to give ourselves plenty of time, which is good, and have a bit to wait. The sad part is that we couldn't get a direct flight so round one will take us to Phoeniz. It's been awhile since we were in this area.
